Motion to remove judge in Kaitlyn Hunt case denied

VERO BEACH — The judge assigned to the lewd and lascivious battery trial of a recent Sebastian River High School graduate won’t be taken off the case.

Defense attorney Julia Graves’ motion to remove Judge Robert Pegg from Kaitlyn Hunt’s case, accusing him of bias, has been denied, according to Indian River County court records.

Graves objected to Pegg’s decision to set Sept. 9 for the start of the teen-sex trial, saying the date is premature and it’s unfair to move the case in front of more than 200 other criminal cases. She asked him to take himself off the case.

Neither Graves nor the prosecutor for the case, Assistant State Attorney Brian Workman, could be reached for comment Tuesday about the failed motion.

Graves wrote in her motion that she was not consulted about the trial’s start date for jury selection and accused Pegg of being biased against her client. She contended Pegg followed the lead of prosecutors she said singled out Hunt’s case because it involved “two girls attending high school together.”

The defense attorney argues Workman has many other cases assigned to him, including people in jail awaiting trial.

“Pushing this particular case (Hunt’s) confirms the prejudice with which this case is being pursued by the state,” according to Graves’ motion.

Hunt is accused of having sexual relations with a 14-year-old girl late last year. Hunt, who was 18 at the time, turned down a plea deal for a lesser felony. The charges were filed by the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office in February. If convicted, she could face up to 15 years in prison for each of the two counts against her.

Pegg has set deadlines for pretrial motions — arguments that certain evidence should be kept out of the trial, that certain people must or cannot testify, or that the case should be dismissed altogether. Those are July 29 and Aug. 14.